Principles, Strategy, Management

Growing, ageing and migrating populations, increasingly empowered patients and mounting funding pressures are all having a dramatic impact on healthcare. Our strategy is to develop innovative products and services that address unmet medical needs and are of real value to society. This will ensure we remain an industry leader in the face of changing healthcare trends.

Our innovative, market-leading pharmaceuticals and diagnostics businesses are united by a single mission: creating sustainable value through products and services that save or at least significantly enhance people’s lives by helping to detect, correctly diagnose and appropriately treat disease.   

The result is a focus on long-term success rather than short-term gain. As our products take between eight and 12 years to bring to market, protecting the current and future value of our company is critical. We believe this creates a strong business case for sustainability.

The three elements of sustainability – society, environment and economy – are interdependent. We will not be successful in the long term without meeting our environmental and social responsibilities, and equally we cannot contribute to society and environmental protection without economic success. We try to balance these three elements in all aspects of managing our business.

• Managing our business responsibly, with high levels of corporate governance
• Growing our business sustainably and creating high-quality, rewarding employment
• Ensuring access to our products for those who need them
• Valuing our employees and protecting their safety
• Reducing the environmental impacts and costs of both our products and our operations
• Supporting communities through local initiatives and by encouraging innovation in science and the arts.

Our products and services not only save lives and ease suffering, they also create economic value. The right medication, received in time and at the right dose, hastens recovery and alleviates the most serious – and costly – effects of a disease. This can shorten or even avoid hospital stays. Patients can return to work sooner and reduce earnings lost through illness. We believe these overall social and economic benefits provide value beyond just the product itself.

Ultimately patients and society only benefit from products if there is access to them. Therefore we are working with local and international partners to improve healthcare delivery  e.g. through health awareness programmes, better preventive health services and increased access to medicines. We support projects where we can contribute skills and know-how as we believe this is a more sustainable solution.

Our sustainability commitments ensure we remain a responsible company that inspires pride in its employees and deserves the trust of all its stakeholders.